sting

American  

[sting] / stɪŋ /

verb (used with object)

• stings,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stung,
  past participle,  past
• stang,
  past (Obsolete)
• stinging
  present participle

1. to prick or wound with a sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organ.

2. to affect painfully or irritatingly as a result of contact, as certain plants do.

   to be stung by nettles.

3. to cause to smart or to cause a sharp pain.

   The blowing sand stung his eyes.

4. to cause mental or moral anguish.

   to be stung with remorse.

5. to goad or drive, as by sharp irritation.

6. Slang. to cheat or take advantage of, especially to overcharge; soak.

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verb (used without object)

• stings,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stung,
  past participle,  past
• stang,
  past (Obsolete)
• stinging
  present participle

1. to use, have, or wound with a sting, as bees.

2. to cause a sharp, smarting pain, as some plants, an acrid liquid or gas, or a slap or hit.

3. to cause acute mental pain or irritation, as annoying thoughts or one's conscience.

   The memory of that insult still stings.

4. to feel acute mental pain or irritation.

   He was stinging from the blow to his pride.

5. to feel a smarting pain, as from a blow or the sting of an insect.

   His cheeks stung from the hail.

noun

• stings
  plural

1. an act or instance of stinging.

   The allergic reaction to a sting may be delayed for several hours.

2. a wound, pain, or smart caused by stinging.

   After an hour or so, the throbbing of the wasp sting subsided to a dull ache.

3. any sharp physical or mental wound, hurt, or pain.

   Laser treatment for wrinkles sounds like magic, but some people can’t tolerate the accompanying sting and burn.

4. anything or an element in anything that wounds, pains, or irritates.

   to feel the sting of defeat;

   Death, where is thy sting?

5. capacity to wound or pain.

   Satire has a sting.

6. a sharp stimulus or incitement.

   driven by the sting of jealousy;

   the sting of ambition.

7. Botany. a glandular hair on certain plants, as nettles, that emits an irritating fluid.

8. Zoology. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.

9. Slang.

   1. confidence game.

   2. an ostensibly illegal operation, as the buying of stolen goods or the bribing of public officials, used by undercover investigators to collect evidence of wrongdoing.

10. Television. Sometimes a brief burst of music or a sound effect used to emphasize a moment of humor, drama, or fright in a show, or to punctuate a transition or another part of a show’s structure.

sting British  

/ stɪŋ /

verb

1. (of certain animals and plants) to inflict a wound on (an organism) by the injection of poison

2. to feel or cause to feel a sharp mental or physical pain

3. (tr) to goad or incite (esp in the phrase sting into action )

4. informal (tr) to cheat, esp by overcharging

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noun

1. a skin wound caused by the poison injected by certain insects or plants

2. pain caused by or as if by the sting of a plant or animal

3. a mental pain or pang

   a sting of conscience

4. a sharp pointed organ, such as the ovipositor of a wasp, by which poison can be injected into the prey

5. the ability to sting

   a sharp sting in his criticism

6. something as painful or swift of action as a sting

   the sting of death

7. a sharp stimulus or incitement

8. botany another name for stinging hair

9. slang a swindle or fraud

10. slang a trap set up by the police to entice a person to commit a crime and thereby produce evidence

11. an unexpected and unpleasant ending

sting Idioms  

1. see take the sting out of.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stingingness
  noun
• resting
  verb
• outsting
  verb (used with object)
• stinging
  adjective
• stingless
  adjective
• unstinging
  adjective
• stingingly
  adverb
• unstingingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stings
  plural

Participles

• stinging
  present
• stung
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sting
  simple
• stings
  simple
• have stung
  perfect
• has stung
  perfect
• am stinging
  progressive
• are stinging
  progressive
• is stinging
  progressive
• have been stinging
  perfect progressive
• has been stinging
  perfect progressive

Past

• stang
  simple
• stung
  simple
• had stung
  perfect
• was stinging
  progressive
• were stinging
  progressive
• had been stinging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sting
  simple
• will have stung
  perfect
• will be stinging
  progressive
• will have been stinging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sting

First recorded before 900; Middle English verb stingen, Old English stingan “to pierce”; cognate with Old Norse stinga “to pierce,” Gothic -stangan (in usstangan “to pull out”); the noun is derivative of the verb

Explanation

Sting most commonly refers to the wound inflicted by a bee or hornet, or to a kind of burning pain, like the brief sting when your doctor gives you a vaccine. A nasty remark can also sting. "Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee!" was Muhammad Ali's famous taunt to other fighters. But insects and boxers aren't the only ones who can sting. When someone says something that's both mean and true, it can sting. Such things are often referred to as stinging remarks. But if you're thinking crime, then a sting is a con-job that takes planning to pull off. When the cops spend months creating a fake crime-ring in order to catch criminals in the act, it's referred to a "sting operation."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sting stings stang stung stinging

He messaged the number from the ad three times before an officer overseeing the sting responded, the report said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

For Lee, the sting of rejection gave way to a gnawing fear that she would end up struggling for money until she died.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

“I love my mountain of disappointments, I do, but I’m human and my mountain is starting to sting more than it used to,” Krumholtz said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

The eye roll you get in response might sting, but at least it’s real.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

“I’m fine,” Marco says, though his back is aching from the fall and his eyes still sting.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Schmidt, an entomologist who specialized in insect defenses, created the sting-pain index which ranks stings from a harmless 0 to an excruciating 4.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The fact that Patel has no criminal record and is not required to be on probation stings for San Mateo County Dist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

It may not be as bad as bailing on the Bambino, but losing Betts still stings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

But for at least 10 indigenous groups, including the Gbagyi, whose homes and farms were replaced by ministries and mansions, that description still stings.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

A sign next to one of the tanks had said that there are 150 million jellyfish stings every year.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin

But I have strong suspicions you are, and if so, as the children say, "I hope that stang!"

From Time Magazine Archive

Make, to, chai; what are you making? stang n's chai?

From Alphabetical Vocabularies of the Clallum and Lummi by George Gibbs

There is believed to have been no example of riding the stang in Cumberland or Westmorland during the last half century.

From Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland by Daniel Scott

A blessing on the cheery gang Wha dearly like a jig or sang, An' never think o' right an' wrang By square an' rule, But, as the clegs o' feeling stang, Are wise or fool.

From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns

So soople, he could gi'e a skelp wi't, Could licht his pipe, or pick his teeth wi't; And at his pleasure, short or lang, It telescoped up to the stang.

From A Golfing Idyll or The Skipper's Round with the Deil On the Links of St. Andrews by Violet Flint

General Motors GM 1.58%increase; up pointing triangle , stung in recent years by critical parts shortages, is setting up a $4.5 billion safety net designed to keep critical components flowing through supply-chain troubles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

But please do not do this if you have allergies, or are likely to get stung.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Though stung, physically and emotionally, Sara carries on with a trip to the Devil’s Mouth caves because her recently deceased father visited them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

"It smelled like plastic burning. It stung my nose," Chanate recounts.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

At first, Taran thought Gurgi had got himself stung by bees.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

However, nearly all of that pattern can be traced to one particular group: the aculeate Hymenoptera, which includes stinging wasps, bees and ants.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

Determined by a mix of firm and individual performance, employees’ bonuses can elicit reactions of euphoria or stinging disappointment—depending on the size of the check, and the expectations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

It’s a stinging insult: By the samurai code, Kanbei should be killed, not imprisoned — Murashige couldn’t have landed a more devastating slap than by letting him live.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The pain of the semi-final loss to Argentina has been exacerbated by the stinging criticism he has faced from supporters, pundits and journalists over England's defensive retreat in the closing stages.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

I reach for a flyaway straw wrapper, then fall to my hands and knees, palms stinging against the hot asphalt.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Related Words

• bite
• hurt
• inspire